Phoenix
|fgcolor= |image=Phoenix SC2 Art1.jpg |imgsize=200px |imgdesc= |create= |comiss= |early=2502 |last=2512 |retired= |destroy= |race=Protoss |type=Aerospace superiority starfighter |propulsion=Inertial drive |max. speed= |length= |width= |height= |armaments=Ion cannons |FTL= |faction= Daelaam Tal'darim Amon's Forces |job= |command= |crew=1 (pilot) |concattop= }} The Phoenix is a protoss air to air unit in StarCraft II. Overview A deadly spacecraft designed for aerial harassment, the Phoenix is highly maneuverable, possesses great speed,2015-02-05, Death from Above: Protoss. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2015-02-08 and is able to outmaneuver almost any foe.Races: Protoss. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2010-08-07 In use by 2502,April 6, 2010. "Timeline". StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). pp. 311 - 323. ISBN 978-1416-55084-6.Elder, Josh (w), Ramanda Kamarga (p). "Why We Fight." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 1 (paperback binding), pp. 6–47. Tokyopop, August 1, 2008. ISBN 978-1427-80721-2. the Phoenix is rapidly replacing the older Scouts and Corsairs in the role of air superiority fighters for the protoss. Phoenix patrols are a common sight on the outer rim of protoss territory, where they sweep deep space for alien threats. A single Phoenix strike force can keep an enemy army pinned down even when vastly outnumbered. Phoenixes can be carried in carrier hangers.Watrous, Valerie (w), Manual, Garcia (i) and Sandra Molina ©. (September 13th, 2017). StarCraft II: Shadow Wars: Part 3. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Shadow Wars: Part 3 Accessed 2017-08-13. The Tal'darim had incorporated the Phoenix into their arsenal by 2504.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Maw of the Void (in English). 2010-07-27. Despite their preference for overwhelming force, they understand the value of the need to be swift and deadly, which was why they kept a fleet of phoenixes stolen from the Templar. While the Purifiers regularly favor their mirages, a fleet of automated phoenixes is retained by them should the mirage's phasing technology not be needed.Blizzard Entertainment. ''StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void''. Collections Tab: Skins. July 19, 2017 Propulsion The Phoenix is propelled by a compact inertial drive, which surrounds the craft in a warp field, allowing swift displacement in deep space or planetary atmospheres.2015-02-05, Phoenix Science. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2015-02-08 Twin high-power plasma thrusters supplement the drive, making the Phoenix a formidable interceptor craft. Additionally, an energy weave covers the Phoenix's wings, giving it an appearance akin to a circuit board. In reality, it is made out of light-reactive fibers that absorb, channel, and redirect all types of energy, including the pilot’s psionic input. The weave’s primary function is to maintain the coherence of the warp field that sheathes the Phoenix’s fuselage, and enhance the ship’s stability and maneuverability when banking, rolling, or sliding at high speeds. Armament The twin ion blaster armament of a Phoenix is highly suited for air-to-air combat,Blizzard Entertainment. Phoenix, Blizzard Entertainment, Retrieved 2007-09-06. and pack a punch against foes lacking armor. Its main armament, the blasters disintegrate their targets through short wavelength energy beams composed of negatively-charged ions though can only be used against aerial targets. These cannons are designed to allow the Phoenix to fire while on the move, but their short wavelength limits the travel distance of each shot, as well as the damage caused to heavily armored targets. The cannons' effective combat range presented a problem until the protoss began to replace the old focusing lenses with the more advanced anion pulse-crystals. When confronted by more dangerous enemies, a Phoenix pilot can unleash a short-lived gravity beam by overloading the ship’s warp field through its inertial drive. The result is a beam composed of anti-gravity, which turns its target into a near-weightless object, immobilizing it for a few precious seconds.Units: Phoenix, Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2010-10-03 However, this is at the cost of the Phoenix's mobility. The beam was originally concieved as a weapon of last resort, but has since been embraced by the Great Fleet as an effective control weapon. In 2506, the phase-smith Karax used solarite to improve the power management systems of the phoenix. This allowed the phoenix to target multiple targets with its Graviton Beam, and to use the beam without diverting power from the phoenix's weapon or propulsion systems.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. (Activision Blizzard). PC. War Council interface (in English). 2015-11-10. Other Information Sophisticated and lethal as the Phoenix may be, all too often a patrol squadron will find itself heavily outnumbered by zerg or terran enemies. To overcome this weakness, phoenix pilots have developed a dangerous counter-ploy. A phoenix pilot can unleash a short-lived storm of destruction by overloading its warp field through the ship's ion blasters. The area-effect discharge is devastating and can destroy a large number of enemies at once, but it comes at a price: in the aftermath the phoenix is left temporarily powerless and crippled. Wary foes have learned to flee a phoenix overload and return moments later to destroy the helpless craft. In turn phoenix pilots have begun to use staggered discharges to catch their enemies in a web of destruction. These desperate tactics are frowned upon by protoss commanders, but have become tacitly accepted as a necessity. Game Unit |image=Phoenix SC2 Head1.jpg |imgsize=200px |imgdesc= |image2=Phoenix SC2 Rend1.jpg |imgsize2=200px |imgdesc2= |race=Protoss |faction= Khalai Tal'darim Amon's Forces |campname=''Wings of Liberty'' Heart of the Swarm Legacy of the Void Nova: Covert Ops |baseunit= |role=Aerospace superiority starfighter |useguns=Ion cannons |usearmor= |energy=200 (init. 50) |engyregen=0.5625 |timedlife= |size= |type=*Air *Mechanical |armortype=Light |transcapacity= |transsize= |sight=10 |detect= |broodling= |costmin=150 |energycost= |costgas=100 |supply=2 |campcost= |time=25 |produced=Stargate |parent= |evolvesfrom= |req= |hotkey=X |speed=5.95 |accel=3.25 |lataccel=0 |decel=0 |creepbonus= |creepmultiplier= |collision=0.75 |shield=60 |shieldregen=2 |hp=120 |hpregen= |armor=0 |gun1name=Ion Cannons |gun1strength=5 (+5 vs light) (Versus and Campaign) 7 (+5 vs light) (Co-op) |gun1attacks=2 |gun1ground= |gun1air=x |gun1cool=0.79 |gun1range=5 (7 with Anion Pulse-Crystals) |gun1upgrd=+1 |gun2name= |gun2strength= |gun2attacks= |gun2ground= |gun2air= |gun2cool= |gun2range= |gun2upgrd= |addons= |evolvesto= |produce= |allows= |research= |ability= |priority=20 |killscore=700 |makescore=350 |lostscore= |notes=The Phoenix can move and attack simultaneously. |structure= |hero= |campaign= |npc= |cancel= |nocat= |concatbott= |concattop= }} Versus In-game, the phoenix lacks a ground attack, but makes up for this with its graviton beam. It is important to note that targets affected by the Graviton Beam can be hit by anti-air weapons, including other phoenixes. The Phoenix can move and attack simultaneously which, combined with its high speed, makes it great for harassing fleeing forces. This also make the phoenix effective as an economy raider, using the graviton beam on worker units. The phoenix is very good at destroying light air units, such as mutalisks (especially with the range upgrade). The upgraded range of a Phoenix is double that of a mutalisk, allowing for players to easily fly around mutalisks, scoring free hits without the mutalisks being able to retaliate due to their slower speed. The Phoenix is an effective counter unit for vikings, banshees, and void rays. It is weak against strongly-armored battlecruiser, carrier, and corruptor. The phoenix is ineffective against the units it counters when outnumbered. However, it can makes up for this with its fast speed. The phoenix banks when it turns.StarCraft. 2010-02-02. The programming team has added some impressive new unit movement animations to the game. Air units like the phoenix and banshee bank on turns, roaches and hellions both rise when they start moving, and tanks slightly bob when stopping. Facebook (StarCraft). Accessed 2010-02-03. Upgrades and Abilities Legacy of the Void In the single-player campaign of Legacy of the Void, the phoenix no longer requires energy to use Graviton Beam, which instead has a thirty second cooldown. The phoenix is also able to move and attack after using Graviton Beam, and Graviton Beam can be set to auto-cast. The Aiur variant of the phoenix has the passive ability "Double Graviton Beam," which levitates an additional nearby enemy ground unit when the phoenix uses its Graviton Beam. These enhancements overall make the phoenix a much more offensive and aggressive unit than before, with a small number of them able to incapacitate a substantial number of enemies and attack them while they are helpless. Compared to the other starfights in the compaign, the corsair and mirage, the corsair's disruption web is more useful for attacking enemy bases and controlling terrain, and the mirage is a more defensive unit. Upgrades and Abilities Co-op Missions Artanis is able to build phoenix in Co-op Missions. They are Artanis' only air unit until he reaches Level 11 and unlocks the tempest. Artanis unlocks upgrades for his phoenix at Level 12. Upgrades and Abilities Strategies The Phoenix can lift anti-air units like the queen with the Graviton Beam ability rendering them vulnerable and helpless against void rays or other Phoenix.Dustin Browder, Robert Simpson, Yeon-Ho Lee, David Kim. 2009-06-22. Battle Report (3). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2009-06-22. When grouped with void rays, the two ships complement each others' weaknesses and become a formidable fleet, with void rays firing at heavily-armored targets and ground targets while Phoenixes fire at poorly-armored targets. Development Quotations :See: StarCraft II Phoenix Quotations Known Phoenix Pilots *Admiral Urun Known Variants *Mirage Trivia The Phoenix bears the same name as StarCraft alpha and StarCraft beta versions of the Wraith.Lord of Ascension. 2007-09-28. StarCraft Evolution. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2007-12-02. Images File:NormalPhoenix SC2SkinImage.jpg|A phoenix File:Phoenix SC2-WoL Game2.jpg|Early Tal'darim phoenix (Heart of the Swarm single-player campaign) File:Taldarim Phoenix SC2-LotV Rend1.jpg|A Tal'darim phoenix File:ForgedPhoenix SC2SkinImage.jpg|Forged phoenix File:Phoenix SC2-LotV Head1.jpg|Tal'darim and Forged phoenix portrait File:PurifierPhoenix SC2SkinImage.jpg|Purifier phoenix File:Phoenix SC2-LotV Head4.jpg|Purifier phoenix portrait References Category: Protoss starship classes Category:StarCraft II Protoss units